Gaming’s Biggest Problem: Being Overburdened With Memorabilia

My love of gaming and collecting has turned my room into that of a disaster area. Strewn across the floor all over are cases, discs, systems, the errant set of batteries, and gutted Wii remotes that I do not use. On the side of my room where I have a dresser, there are stacks of gaming magazines that I read four or five years ago. In the room adjacent to mine you can find a large duffel bag containing the original Game Boy, a Game Gear and all the subsequent handhelds I don’t use at the moment. It all takes up space, which I haven’t enough of. Why? I just can’t bring myself to get rid of any of it!

Even though now I can buy most of my favorite NES and SNES (and more) titles in various other ways, avoiding using the original systems, still I have kept them around. They collect dust, but I look at them and fondly remember the days I was first introduced to gaming, and eBay seems like less and less of an option. How could I part with such staples of my childhood? Heck, I wouldn’t even be here today if I hadn’t kept them around. It seems like I’d be throwing a part of myself away with each system I pawned or sold for a bit of profit. Therefore, they’ll stay in my room.

Games I’ve received as gifts that I really didn’t want in the first place, less-than-stellar releases that merit nothing but a trip to the microwave, and things that won’t even run anymore? I’ve got them in droves. I need the money, but I’d prefer to keep them around on my bookshelf that’s rapidly running out of space. I’m sure I could make some poor children happy by donating some cheapie PS2 games that I don’t necessarily care about anymore, but I won’t.

Each part of my gaming memorabilia that I own, that I toss about my room carelessly, that I wear, or cuddle when I go to sleep at night is part of my history as a gamer. Since it’s one of the most important aspects of my personality, each item that I’ve obtained over the years feels as if it’s very finely woven into the threads of my being. At the risk of sounding cheesy, they’re part of me. But as anyone knows, if you truly love something, you must eventually let it go.

It’s just that I can’t let it go. I can’t. What if the next owner of my God of War copy doesn’t care enough to hear out the tale of Kratos? Worse, what if the new town that the next owner of my Animal Crossing makes is neglected? I can’t have that on my conscience. It’s cruelty in some way. And isn’t it illegal? Cruelty to imaginary towns? Yeah, I thought it was. So getting rid of even games I have completed so many times I could write a thesis about is moot.

I’m too attached.

I’m cursed to forever be overburdened, because I can’t deal with the thought of losing my babies, my precious possessions. Pathetic? Perhaps. But I’m sure I’m not the only one. Do you have gaming paraphernalia that you can’t stand to lose? Do you hoard games just because you like the way they fit so neatly in stacks on shelves or arranged in alphabetic order so I can pretend I own a game library, er, so you can find them? You know what to do. Let us know.

And in the meantime I’ll sleep on the third of my bed that isn’t covered in things I can’t be bothered to make room for.

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One of the best things about going all digital is that instead of being a physical game hoarder, we can all become digital game hoarders. Sure, I’ve only played a handful of my 400+ Steam games, BUT ONE DAY I MIGHT PLAY THEM AND SO I NEED THEM!